Education

Silver received his undergraduate degree from Tufts University in 1970 and his J.D. degree from the Washington College of Law at American University in 1973.[5][3]

Career

Silver began his legal career working in the General Counsel’s Office of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare and in the General Counsel’s Office of the Election Authority of the District of Columbia. He then worked as a private practice lawyer from 1977 until 2005. Silver was then appointed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in 2005.[5][3]

Awards and associations

Silver served on the Board of Governors of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association and previously served as its president. He also previously served as a chairman of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court's Civil Rules Committee and the Governor's Judicial Selection Committee.[5][3]

Political outlook

In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices in their paper, State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns. A score above 0 indicated a more conservative leaning ideology while scores below 0 are more liberal. Silver received a Campaign finance score (CFscore) of -1.07, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This is more liberal than the average CF score of -1.01 that justices received in Maine. The study is based on data from campaign contributions by judges themselves, the partisan leaning of contributors to the judges or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study is not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic gauge of various factors.[6]